Free-agent and trade negotiations may begin Tuesday and transactions can be filed with the league office Friday at 6 p.m. ET, according to an updated timeline for league business to begin, sources told ESPN.com's John Clayton.

A source at the highest-level had earlier told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter that those talks might begin as soon as Monday afternoon and the league year would have begun Aug. 2, if the NFL Players Association signed off on it.

The updated timeline from league sources:

• Monday: The NFL will announce that teams can go to 90-man rosters and the official free-agent list will be distributed to teams.

• Tuesday: Teams can reach agreements with rookies and undrafted free agents beginning at 10 a.m. ET. Teams can reach agreements with all free agents and signed players are allowed to enter team facilities.

• Wednesday: Players can begin reporting to training camps 15 days before their first preseason games. According to the proposed timeline, 10 teams would report on Wednesday, 10 more on Thursday and 10 additional teams on Friday. The New York Jets and Houston Texans would be the last two teams to report, on Sunday.

• Thursday: Teams can begin to cut players at 4 p.m. ET.

• Friday: Teams can begin filing transactions to the league office at 6 p.m. ET.

• Aug. 4: Deadline for recertification and ratification of the collective bargaining agreement by the players.

The NFLPA executive committee began meeting at 11 a.m. Monday in Washington, D.C., and sources said they will recommend approval of the settlement with the NFL's owners.

A high-ranking NFLPA executive told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen that lawyers on both sides are finalizing some of the language on the settlement agreement. Members of the NFLPA executive committee and some of the named plaintiffs are in Washington, D.C., on Monday to review the final deal.

Once the lead plaintiffs in the Tom Brady antitrust lawsuit against the NFL and the NFLPA executive committee are comfortable with the final deal, they will then -- along with NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith -- present the final settlement to the 32 player representatives for a vote.

According to the source, it's not going to be a "rubber stamp" vote but players should vote to approve the settlement.

Smith, who hopes to mend fences with NFL's retired players, has a conference call Monday morning with the former players to share with them the gains that they made in this deal, including the unprecedented "legacy fund."

The final process for negotiating the new collective bargaining agreement will begin after the settlement agreement is passed and the NFLPA recertifies as a union. Benefits and health care, handling of grievances and the substance-abuse policy are all things that players will negotiate after they reform as a union, but the lack of a CBA will not hold up 2011 league business from beginning.

Owners overwhelmingly approved a proposal last week, but some unresolved issues still needed to be figured out to satisfy players; the owners do not need to vote again.

The major economic framework for the deal was worked out more than a week ago.

That included how the more than $9 billion in annual league revenues will be divided (about 53 percent to owners and 47 percent to players over the next decade; the old CBA resulted in nearly a 50-50 split); a per-club cap of about $120 million for salary and bonuses in 2011 -- and at least that in 2012 and 2013 -- plus about $22 million for benefits; a salary system to rein in spending on first-round draft picks; and unrestricted free agency for most players after four seasons.

Seems like they will let teams negotiate with all FAs on Tuesday--the deals just won't be filed or made official until the weekend. They are apparently trying to get free agency squared away before camps are in full swing so we could hear that certain players have new teams as early as Tuesday even if the contracts aren't filed for a few more days.

_________________Proud member of the Contract Extension for Schwartz Fan Club.

The CBA in a nutshellPosted by Gregg Rosenthal on July 25, 2011, 2:03 PM EDT

We have an agreement. Finally. So what’s in it?

We know a lot about the new collective bargaining agreement and how it will shape the NFL for the next decade. We’ll learn even more in the coming hours as we get a chance to read the fine print.

In the meantime, PFT wanted to give folks just joining the party a broad outline of the agreement.

(And by broad outline, we mean that we’ll mostly link to all the other posts we’ve been cranking out. What, you thought we were going re-write everything?)

Length of agreement: We’ve got ten years of labor peace on the way. There is no opt out clause in the deal.

Revenue split: This is what it was all about. The players were on defense the whole time, knowing that owners would get a larger share of the overall pie.

The two sides agreed on a new “all revenue” model. It’s a little complicated, but overall the players must average at least 47 percent of all revenue for the 10-year term of the agreement.

The money was counted differently in the past, but the split was essentially closer to 50-50 before.

Drafted Rookies: A new rookie wage scale will dramatically curb spending on rookies. High first-round draft picks are taking a huge hit. No. 1 overall pick Cam Newton, for instance, is expected to see less than half the guaranteed money of 2010 No. 1 pick Sam Bradford. Those top-shelf contracts will be four years, with a pricey fifth year option.

Measures to prevent rookie holdouts were also put into the deal, in part by making the rookie contracts simpler. Players taken rounds two-through-seven aren’t overly impacted.

Undrafted rookies: They will be among the first players to sign with teams. A new signing bonus cap for undrafted players is expected to be put in place.

18-game season: The possibility of an 18-game season died a lot sooner than anyone expected. The players wanted no part of it and the issue was put off until 2013. Owners can try to negotiate more games in 2013, but the players would have to agree to it. A stare down could ensue over the fate of the preseason.

Revenue sharing: The owners separately agreed to a new ten-year plan for revenue sharing. This negotiation didn’t directly involve the players, yet it remains as vital to the sport as anything accomplished over the last few weeks. The plan will tax the highest-earning teams.

Salary cap: The salary cap is set for $120.375 million in 2011. That’s actually about $6 million less than the salary cap was back in 2009, the last year the cap was in place. It’s important to note the cap will rise with revenues. (Future television deals.)

2011 salary cap flexibility: Even though the salary cap was ostensibly scaled back, teams were given two avenues to make it easier to retain high priced veterans this year. Teams can “borrow” $3 million against future salary caps to pay for veterans. They can also use another $3.5 million in what would otherwise be performance-based pay to use for veterans.

So the cap really isn’t $120.375 million. It’s basically $126.88 if teams want it to be. An extra $6.5 million won’t save guys that truly deserve to get cut, but it will make life easier for teams near the cap limit.

Salary floors: Players accepted a relatively low salary cap in exchange for the raising the minimum teams have to spend. This can’t be underestimated. 99% of the salary cap must be spent in cash in aggregate between 2011-2012. The league-wide number falls to 95% after that. Teams must spend at least 89% of the cap from 2013-2016 and 2017-2020.

This helps ensure teams that were way under the cap in recent years like the Bengals and Bucs spend more.

Player safety: The amount of padded practices in the regular season is now heavily regulated by the league. Two padded practices per day in training camp (two-a-days) has also been banned. (This doesn’t sit well with all players.) Teams can do a padded practice and a non-padded practice in the same day in training camp.

Teams will also reportedly have more days off during their bye week.

Offseason work: Offseason Organized Team Activities (OTAs) have been reduced from 14 days to 10. The offseason program was reduced five weeks overall.

Retired players: The new deal reportedly adds $1 billion in new funds for retired players. $620 will be used for a new “Legacy Fund,” which will be devoted to increasing pensions for pre-1993 retirees.

Tampering: There will be no need for teams to illegally contact free agents in the coming week. Almost as soon as teams are back Tuesday, they can begin speaking to all unrestricted free agents. Check out the timeline of the next week right here .

And just in case we missed anything: Seven more odds and ends you may have missed.

Highlights of final dealPosted by Mike Florio on July 25, 2011, 2:16 PM EDT

PFT has obtained a summary of the labor deal that was approved today by the NFLPA* Executive Committee and board of player representatives.

We’d ordinarily think of some funny or poignant turn of phrase right here, but time’s-a-wastin’.

Regarding the issue of the minimum per-team cash spend (something for which Saints quarterback Drew Brees recently told teammates via e-mail he would be fighting), the two sides agreed that each franchise will spend at least 89 percent of the cap, on a four-year average from 2013 through 2016, and from 2017 through 2020. (Across the entire league, the NFL has committed to spending 99 percent of the cap space in 2011 and 2012, and 95 percent for the rest of the deal.)

Teams will be allowed to have a whopping 90 players on the roster during training camp.

The timeline meshes exactly with the timeline we posted earlier today. (It was never revised due to the slight delay in the voting process.)

The league year will begin August 4, unless the CBA is ratified sooner than that by the players.

Workout bonuses will be paid in full if a player is not waived before 4:01 p.m. ET on July 29. If the player is waived before then, the full amount will be paid if the bonus was less than $50,000. From $50,000 to $100,000, the player will get $50,000. For bonuses over $100,000, the player will get half, up to $100,000.

Roster and option bonuses to be earned during the lockout will be earned if the player is on the roster at 4:00 p.m. ET on July 29. (That could be called the Vince Young rule.)

As to injury protection, a player will get half of his salary, up to $1 million, in the season after a catastrophic injury. In the second year, he’ll get 30 percent, up to $500,000.

As to the workers’ compensation forum-shopping issue, the question of whether players will be permitted to file claims in California despite never playing for a team headquartered there will continue to be subject ongoing litigation on that point. (There goes the league’s desire for a clean courtroom slate.)

There is no opt out, as previously reported by Albert Breer of NFL Network. It’s a firm, 10-year contract.

Stay tuned for more details as we try to digest the paperwork that already is flooding the PFT e-mailbox.

Joined: October 20th, 2004, 4:16 pmPosts: 10136Location: Where ever I'm at now

Re: 2011 CBA Thread

steensn wrote:

woohoo, looks like Fairley will be a reasonably priced addition!

Which is a really good thing, given the question marks surrounding his work ethic. Yet another good thing about reducing the salaries of incoming high first rounders....motiviation. If the chance to earn three to five times what you are earning now in four years isn't enough to drive you to work hard every day, every play, in every way.......then you weren't meant to be successful at all.

_________________I will not put on blinders when it comes to our QBs performances.

July 25th, 2011, 4:07 pm

kdsberman

Team MVP

Joined: February 20th, 2007, 10:51 pmPosts: 3426Location: Saginaw, MI

Re: 2011 CBA Thread

Man ive been at work all day with people that really dont care about this CBA stuff. It is SO nice to get out of work, get on here and express the awesome feeling we are all feeling right now!

I dont drink, but im pretty confident im gonna crack one open tonight and say a toast!

Ryan Clark: Goodell’s disciplinary power will hold up CBA ratificationPosted by Michael David Smith on August 3, 2011, 12:11 PM EDT

From the day the owners and players agreed on a deal to end the lockout, it has been widely believed that the new Collective Bargaining Agreement would be ratified by August 4. But it’s now August 3, and ratification is no sure thing.

In fact, Steelers defensive back Ryan Clark, the team’s NFLPA representative, says that unless NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is willing to budge on matters of player discipline, the CBA won’t be ratified tomorrow.

Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Clark said today he thinks the issue could affect all the recently signed free agents around the league. Under the rules the owners and players agreed to when the lockout ended, those players can’t practice until the new CBA is ratified.

The failure to ratify the CBA wouldn’t be a disaster — it wouldn’t create another work stoppage — but it would represent a disappointing step backward for the NFL. And it would be troubling for the players who signed new contracts since the lockout ended, and for the teams that are counting on those players.

So while the owners and the players seem to be mostly on the same page about the league’s finances going forward, they’re not on the same page regarding player discipline. That’s an issue where many players still lack confidence in Goodell.

Joined: October 20th, 2004, 4:16 pmPosts: 10136Location: Where ever I'm at now

Re: 2011 CBA Thread

While I am not a big fan of Goodell's and think he goes overboard on some fines, to hold up the ratification of the CBA over this is assanine. It should be the owners that approach Goodell and tell him to dial it down, not the players. Coming from the players, it just looks like sour grapes, even if they have a good point (and they do). I realize that Goodell levies his fines to protect the players, but some of them are down right ridiculous.

_________________I will not put on blinders when it comes to our QBs performances.

I don't know how he thought the vast majority of players that have no problem staying out of trouble would hold up the ratification to fight for a relative few malcontents and misbehaving misfits. Go figure.